Relentless Rains

Waiting for the rains to subside

It has been raining relentlessly night and day for a week. Usually monsoons in Mumbai recede by the end of the Ganesh festivities on Anant Chaturdashi day. But this time around, the rains had struck with renewed vigour on the very same day (last Thursday), throwing our lives out of gear.
At the Garden, attendance dropped drastically during the exercises. Today, it was in single digit as thunder and lightning streaked across the skies early morning. The fear of slipping and falling into potholes and wading through swirling slush on the roads is proving a major deterrent. One has to be either utterly foolish or else, raving mad to be risking life and limb in these conditions for the sake of a few laughs. Or so it would seem to any observer.
Nahid Khan had a different take though. “Those of us who report for the exercises in this foul weather have only one thing to prove. We are unwanted in our homes. Why else should any sane person leave the comfort of a warm, cosy bed early morning

'Bosswoman' Mallika Kagzi (l) flexes her muscle

only to get drenched and brave all odds to reach the Garden?”
However, if truth be told, it is nothing but addiction that draws us to the Garden, whatever the circumstances. Like junkies who need their daily fix, we get our high from all the crackpot jokes, clowning and fooling about in the morning.

Tara Chand Seth

And then there are the occasional but hilarious surprises – the latest being Mallika Kagzi asserting her authority as president of the Club while getting to ‘tame’ Shekhawat and enforcing order during the exercises.
Meanwhile, news comes in from Tara Chand Seth in Delhi where the weather is not so wet. Still, he is having a rough time, following a major attack of pneumonia and certain age-related issues which have left him with a sudden weight loss of 8 kilos.
Tara Chand is in his mid-80s. He says that much as he has “recovered and feels better now”, there is the occasional bout of weakness he must contend with. Nevertheless, he believes he will be able to gather the strength to travel to Mumbai and visit us some time before Diwali.
We wish him speedy recovery and the best of everything.
Bhaswati Bose:
Get well soon, Tara Chand-ji. We are missing you.
Lt Col Angad Singh (from Mohali):
As one grows in age, so does the immune system of the body decline. A super-senior citizen has to be careful about the weather. It may be summer or winter, precautions are very essential and must not to be ignored. I wish Tara Chand Seth speedy recovery and good health.